DEPRESSION COMBATED WITH A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

-

 

DEPRESSION COMBATED WITH A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

    

A healthy lifestyle that involves moderate alcohol consumption, a nutritious diet, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, and frequent social connection while avoiding smoking and too much sedentary behavior reduces the risk of depression, new research has found.

In research published today in Nature Mental Health, an international team of researchers, including from the University of Cambridge and Fudan University, looked at a combination of factors, including lifestyle factors, genetics, brain structure, and our immune and metabolic systems to identify the underlying mechanisms that might explain this link.

According to the World Health Organization, around one in 20 adults experiences depression, which significantly burdens public health worldwide. The factors that influence the onset of depression are complicated and include biological and lifestyle factors.

To better understand the relationship between these factors and depression, the researchers turned to the UK Biobank, a biomedical database and research resource containing anonymized genetic, lifestyle, and health information about its participants.

By examining data from almost 290,000 people -- of whom 13,000 had depression -- followed over nine years, the team identified seven healthy lifestyle factors linked with a lower risk of depression. These were:

  • moderate alcohol consumption
  • healthy diet
  • regular physical activity
  • healthy sleep
  • never smoking
  • low-to-moderate sedentary behavior
  • frequent social connection

Of all these factors, having a good night's sleep -- between seven and nine hours a night -- made the most significant difference, reducing the risk of depression, including single depressive episodes and treatment-resistant depression, by 22%.

Frequent social connection, which generally reduced the risk of depression by 18%, was the most protective against recurrent depressive disorder.

Moderate alcohol consumption decreased the risk of depression by 11%, healthy diet by 6%, regular physical activity by 14%, never smoking by 20%, and low-to-moderate sedentary behavior by 13%.

Based on the number of healthy lifestyle factors an individual adhered to, they were assigned to one of three groups: unfavorable, intermediate, and favorable. Individuals in the middle group were around 41% less likely to develop depression than those in the harmful lifestyle, while those in the excellent lifestyle group were 57% less likely.

The team then examined the participants' DNA, assigning each a genetic risk score. This score was based on the number of genetic variants an individual carried that have a known link to the risk of depression. Those with the lowest genetic risk score were 25% less likely to develop depression when compared to those with the highest score -- a much smaller impact than lifestyle.

In people at high, medium, and low genetic risk for depression, the team further found that a healthy lifestyle can cut the risk of depression. This research underlines the importance of living a healthy lifestyle for preventing depression, regardless of a person's genetic risk.

Professor Barbara Sahakian, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, said: "Although our DNA -- the genetic hand we've been dealt -- can increase our risk of depression, we've shown that a healthy lifestyle is potentially more critical.

"Some of these lifestyle factors are things we have a degree control over, so trying to find ways to improve them -- making sure we have a good night's sleep and getting out to see friends, for example -- could make a real difference to people's lives."

To understand why a healthy lifestyle might reduce the risk of depression, the team studied several other factors.

First, they examined MRI brain scans from just under 33,000 participants and found several brain regions where a more significant volume- neurons and connections -- was linked to a healthy lifestyle. These included the pallidum, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus.

Next, the team looked for markers in the blood that indicated problems with the immune system or metabolism (how we process food and produce energy). Among those markers linked to lifestyle were the C-reactive protein, a molecule produced in the body in response to stress, and triglycerides, one of the primary forms of fat that the body uses to store energy for later.

These links are supported by several previous studies. For example, exposure to stress in life can affect how well we can regulate blood sugar, which may lead to a deterioration of immune function and accelerate age-related damage to cells and molecules in the body. Poor physical activity and lack of sleep can damage the body's ability to respond to stress. Loneliness and lack of social support have been found to increase the risk of infection and increase markers of immune deficiency.

The team found that the pathway from lifestyle to immune and metabolic functions was the most significant. In other words, a poorer lifestyle impacts your immune system and metabolism, increasing your risk of depression.

Dr Christelle Langley, also from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, said: "We're used to thinking of a healthy lifestyle as being important to our physical health, but it's just as important for our mental health. It's good for our brain health and cognition, but also indirectly by promoting a healthier immune system and better metabolism."

Professor Jianfeng Feng, from Fudan University and Warwick University, added: "We know that depression can start as early as in adolescence or young adulthood, so educating young people on the importance of a healthy lifestyle and its impact on mental health should begin in schools."

This study was supported by grants from organizations, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Ministry of Science, China*.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PEOPLE WITH OBESITY BURN LESS CALORIES DURING THE DAY

-
Image
  PEOPLE WITH OBESITY BURN LESS CALORIES DURING THE DAY Building on prior studies with healthy-weight participants, the new research includes different body sizes.         New research indicates that weight influences how and when bodies burn energy. An Oregon Health & Science University study published in the journal  Obesity  found people who have a healthy weight use more energy during the day, when most people are active and eat, while those who are obese spend more energy during the night when most people sleep. The study also found that during the day, those with obesity have higher levels of the hormone insulin -- a sign that the body is working harder to use glucose, an energy-packed sugar. "It was surprising to learn how dramatically the timing of when our bodies burn energy differed in those with obesity," said the study's first author, Andrew McHill, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the OHSU School of Nursing and the Oregon Institute of ...
Read more

WHAT CAUSES ITCHING, AND WHAT STOPS IT?

-
Image
  WHAT CAUSES ITCHING, AND WHAT STOPS IT?         It can be a relief to scratch the occasional itch, but when itch gets out of control, it can become a severe health problem. How does the body know when to stop? Scientists at UC San Francisco are getting close to an answer. In a breakthrough that could transform how doctors treat conditions from eczema to allergies, they have discovered a feedback loop centered on a single immune protein called IL-31 that causes the urge to itch and dials back nearby inflammation. The findings, published on October 13th in  Science Immunology , lay the groundwork for a new generation of drugs that interact more intelligently with the body's innate self-regulating ability. Previous approaches suggested that IL-31 signals itch and promotes skin inflammation. However, the UCSF team discovered that nerve cells, or neurons, that respond to IL-31, triggering a scratch, also prevent immune cells from overreacting and causing more ...
Read more

A VEGAN DIET IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY

-
Image
  A VEGAN DIET IMPROVES CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH, ACCORDING TO A NEW STUDY         In a study with 22 pairs of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have found that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular health in as little as eight weeks. Although it's well-known that eating less meat improves cardiovascular health, diet studies often need to be enhanced by genetic differences, upbringing, and lifestyle choices. By studying identical twins, however, the researchers were able to control for genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles. "Not only did this study provide a groundbreaking way to assert that a vegan diet is healthier than the conventional omnivore diet, but the twins were also a riot to work with," said Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor and a professor of medicine. "They dressed the same, they talked the same, and they had a banter ...
Read more